Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will be boosted by the returns of three key players for Saturday's Community Shield match against Liverpool at the King Power Stadium.

John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden were all unavailable for the trip to the USA and were instead forced to make the trip to Croatia to join up with the Under-23s.

However, all three men will be at Guardiola's disposal for the 100th Community Shield, but Aymeric Laporte is once again expected to miss out due to a knee injury.

Ruben Dias was only given 57 minutes of action against Bayern Munich last time out amid his injury and illness woes, but the Portuguese should be deemed fit enough to start this one alongside Stones.

Nathan Ake is on standby if Guardiola takes a more conservative approach with Dias, while Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo are expected to occupy the full-back areas.

New arrival Kalvin Phillips is expected to be named among the substitutes, as Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri form a recognisable midfield trio for the Premier League champions.

Erling Braut Haaland got off the mark for City against Bayern in a storm-interrupted friendly at the weekend, and the Norwegian ought to be joined in the final third by Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish.

Man City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Haaland, Grealish

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